Corrosion behavior and mechanism of MAO coated Ti6Al4V with a grain-fined surface layer

Abstract

In order to enhance the corrosion behavior of Ti6Al4V, a MAO coating was prepared on the surface refined by ultrasonic cold forging technology (UCFT). The surface roughness value and the grain were evaluated by atomic force microscope (AFM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The microstructure and phase component of the coated samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The corrosion behavior of all the samples was examined by potentiodynamic polarization and electrode impedance spectroscopy (EIS) tests in a 3.5% NaCl solution. The results show that UCFT can reduce the surface roughness value and refine the grains. The micro-pore size of the UCFT-MAO sample is smaller and the pore number is less than those of MAO sample. The thickness of the coated sample is about 10 μm. The UCFT-MAO sample possesses the highest micro-hardness among all the samples. The UCFT-MAO sample has the best corrosion resistance with the lowest corrosion current density and the highest electrochemical impedance, which is attributed to UCFT pretreatment prior to MAO process on titanium alloys. The influence of UCFT on the corrosion process and corrosion mechanism were discussed.